Carolina Panthers offensive lineman Robert Hunt makes the 2025 Pro Bowl after all
Robert Hunt is getting his end-of-season due after all.
The Carolina Panthers’ guard and veteran voice on the team’s much-improved offensive line was named to the 2025 Pro Bowl games Monday, the team announced.
He will join cornerback Jaycee Horn in representing the Panthers during the annual festivities, which will take place this weekend.
Hunt was originally slated as a second alternate for the games. The 6-foot-6, 235-pound right guard eventually got the nod after two players elected to miss the contest. Landon Dickerson of the Philadelphia Eagles is playing in the Super Bowl — thanks to a dominant win over the Commanders on Sunday — and Tyler Smith of the Dallas Cowboys had surgery on his foot last month.
Hunt is the first Panthers offensive lineman to earn the honor since guard Trai Turner was named to the Pro Bowl in 2019 — the last of five consecutive appearances for the 2014 third-round Carolina draft pick.
The honor punctuates a pretty remarkable season for Hunt, whom the Panthers signed in free agency last year on a five-year deal worth up to $100 million. The guard’s presence — as well as that of other pieces in the OL room — helped elevate an offensive line that took its lumps in 2023. The unit as a whole helped pave the way for a career year for running back Chuba Hubbard and a resurgent back-half of the season for second-year quarterback Bryce Young.
For Hunt, specifically, it was a year of progression, he told reporters after being named as a second alternate.
“I said this earlier, I think right now, this moment, today, this year — I’ll probably be the worst that I’ll be in my career here,” Hunt said. “This is the first time I’ve been in this system. This is a whole new idea for me. I’m in a whole new city, new everything. So it’s the first time for me, and usually I get better over time.
“I was an alternate last year. This year, I got closer. I’m a closer alternate. And maybe next year I kick the door down. I’m gonna do all I can this offseason to try to kick the door down.”
That door tumbled Monday.
Hunt played in 100% of the team’s offensive snaps before missing the season finale against the Falcons. He was the go-to lead blocker for the Panthers in the red zone — especially on the goal line. Hunt finished the year with a run-blocking grade of 72.0 and a pass-blocking grade of 57.5, per Pro Football Focus.
This will be the 28-year-old Louisiana-Lafayette product’s first Pro Bowl.
This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 10:51 AM.
